Dealing with AIDS and the Adolescent Population

AIDS is a lethal disease that poses a major threat to adolescents who engage in high-risk behaviors such as unsafe sex and IV drug use. It is estimated that 21 percent of individuals diagnosed with AIDS in their 20s were infected as teens. Public health officials maintain that education is the best strategy for limiting spread of the disease; however, unique developmental attributes of adolescents present barriers to this approach. These barriers can be breached through a variety of interactive educational strategies designed specifically for the adolescent audience. The critical messages to get across are that “safe sex is condom protected sex,” and “donʼt share needles.”